Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan

Growing up on the moon, Xingyin is accustomed to solitude, unaware that she is being hidden from the feared Celestial Emperor who exiled her mother for stealing his elixir of immortality. But when Xingyin’s magic flares and her existence is discovered, she is forced to flee her home, leaving her mother behind.

Alone, powerless, and afraid, she makes her way to the Celestial Kingdom, a land of wonder and secrets. Disguising her identity, she seizes an opportunity to learn alongside the emperor's son, mastering archery and magic, even as passion flames between her and the prince.

To save her mother, Xingyin embarks on a perilous quest, confronting legendary creatures and vicious enemies across the earth and skies. But when treachery looms and forbidden magic threatens the kingdom, she must challenge the ruthless Celestial Emperor for her dream—striking a dangerous bargain in which she is torn between losing all she loves or plunging the realm into chaos.

Daughter of the Moon Goddess begins an enchanting, romantic duology which weaves ancient Chinese mythology into a sweeping adventure of immortals and magic—where love vies with honor, dreams are fraught with betrayal, and hope emerges triumphant.

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Although the UK cover is very beautiful, with all those soft pink flowers and what I suspect will be gold highlights, I think the US cover has to take this one for the sheer drama. Look at that blue background and Xingyin with her bow! They're very different styles, but they both manage to suit the book very well.

I'm afraid I don't know as much Asian folklore as I should, so I was worried I'd find this confusing, but I didn't at all. Everything was well explained. I wish the map had been included in my proof copy, but I always want a map, so that might have just been me. This is a thick book, just about 500 pages, but for me it flew by. I didn't feel like any of it was padding or inserted just to make things longer. Everything seemed to have a purpose.

For the first half or so of this book I kept thinking of Zoe Marriott's Shadows on the Moon (a compliment, I promise - Shadows is my favourite Zoe book and one of my favourite books overall.) It's not just the obvious, Asian-inspired-fairytale flavour, though, it's the tone, the language used and the things the character goes through. Around about half way through, though, those comparisons dropped away as this book became very much its own creature. Still just as good as Shadows but not quite so familiar any more.

I love that, although this is the first of two, there's no cliffhanger here. It would have been easy to stop at (spoiler) the point where Xingyin is heading back to face the Emperor, which would have made a brillant cliffhanger and I'm so glad Sue didn't go for it. There are some threads continuing through, and I'm really looking forward to seeing how they're tied up, but I didn't want to throw the book across the room in frustration, which is always nice!

This is a great read for anyone looking for a new fantasy read (or for a beautiful cover to look good on your shelf!)

Daughter of the Moon Goddess publishes on the 11th of January, 2022 in the US (top image) and on the 20th of January, 2022 in the UK (lower image). I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.